BIGBANG member and solo artist Taeyang never fails to impress!
Last year, Taeyang, under his real name, Dong Yongbae, earned his Master’s Degree in Producing Performances and Images at Daejin University Graduate School of Culture & Arts.
As a smart move, Taeyang decided to stick to a topic he knows well and properly construct his thesis through his experience with BIGBANG. The thesis was focused on BIGBANG’s MADE Tour and the Hallyu music wave. It was titled “The Influence of BIGBANG 2015 World Tour [MADE] on the Sustainability of the Korean Wave.” The thesis is 104 pages long and seems to focus on how the Korean wave is moving around the world and how BIGBANG themselves and their incredibly successful concert tours have influenced the Korean music wave’s way of travel around the world.
The full thesis (written in Korean) is now available to download and read through the National Library of Korea. There is, however, an excerpt from the thesis that has been translated into English. Read it below!
“This thesis is a report of the 2015 World Tour [MADE] by Korea’s representative boy group BIGBANG, taking the world as their stage and standing at the vanguard of the Korean Wave. Based on this I make my discourse on the Korean Wave.
“The commonly acknowledged term “Tour Concert” refers to a concert type that travels to various regions with a single performance format. Tour Concerts by Korean artists that had just been nationwide in the past are now expanding their range worldwide. However, the demand across the nation or the world is vital. There is no significance in establishing Tour Concerts without public demand, and Tour Concerts cannot be created in the first place.
“In this regard, BIGBANG has received endless love calls from 21 countries worldwide, thereby obtaining justifiability to hold a large-scale world tour concert in 2012 and once again in 2015. Many fans seem to show support for our music and performance through the direct communication that we have with them at overseas performances.
“This is because the limitations of the indirect exchange that occurs online through the Internet cannot surpass direct communication. The synergy between a world-class creative team and BIGBANG’s impeccable live performance, always presenting a perfect tune for the worldwide music market trend, together with elaborate laser lighting and stage equipment marked another epoch in popular arts, a real experience for fans around the world who had been waiting for BIGBANG’s performances.
“As a member of BIGBANG, it is always overwhelming to present our music to the world stage. To those that listen to our music in various local regions, each and every song will become an important parameter for determining the overall awareness of K-Pop contents. Therefore BIGBANG and other Korean artists should take high quality contents to communicate with K-Pop fans in foreign countries and aspire for a far-reaching expansion of the international demand of our Korean popular arts contents.”
Fans have already taken to social media to boast about their idols and how amazing it is to see their academic accomplishments on top of the entertainment-based ones.
Congratulations to Taeyang for a great job!
CaptainMal has been into Korean Entertainment for seven years now, since 2010. She travels to conventions in her area, showcasing her “Kpop Game Show’” and occasional Kpop cosplay. Although her favorite bands are Infinite, Super Junior, and VIXX, she boasts a love for a huge variety of artists. Other than Kpop, CaptainMal loves Disney, 80’s rock, Daft Punk, Gaming, and Orange Juice.
Media: National Library of Korea